Results, attractiveness and some ideas to develop further

Good afternoon!

Had today afternoon good couple of hours good discussion with Timo, Hanna and in Victor in Lemminkäisenkatu. I promised to put some results, thoughts, points, views and ideas to our blog.

Here major points (90-100 % says)  from 20+ (30-70 year old, 75 % women and 25 % men) from deeper interviews-relaxed discussions during last and this week. Quite a lot of information. I'll get more results and more refined ideas hopefully still before next Thursday.

- Location is good to excellent, easy access especially by walk and bus, especially all agree that main corner entrance is stylish and attractive. All women think that coffee-wine bar is great place to meet.
- All who live in the city center, come by walk.
- Would come more often, if either more positive feeling during shopping, better bargains or clearer and less confusing interiors.
- Cosmetics dept is good to excellent and half of the time the main reason to go to shopping.
- Safe, clean and secure environment.
- Good to excellent customer service in general. This is the biggest most attractive point in the shop.  This is good and valuable base for all.
- Sales and discount area in ground floor is not good idea at all. It either lowers the image and make shopping experience less attractive, too near market, other shops and cheap style. Now it does not attract customers at all. Half think that discount area should be put to more far away from entrance and walking routes, half think that it does not need to exist. 1/4 think that 2nd and 1/4 think that 3rd floor is ok.
- Dept store profile and image is good to very high level. Kind of mixture of traditional, appreciated BUT for all little or very much confusing. Changing and confusing areas in shop make shopping less attractive.
- All older people (age 40+) have memories and even stories to tell, brings storytelling ideas..
- Women come alone or with a (lady) friend, occasionally with husband, when men need some clothes.
- Ground floor is the best
- Everybody knows where the dept store is

Clear but minor points (ab. 50 % says)

- Many want to come by car and during some weekends there might sometimes be minor parking problems.
- Enough parking behind and under, also parking nearby is easily accessible
- Clothing store areas are confusing, don't often go shopping to 2nd or 3rd floor
- Good to excellent womens trousers, will find the trousers and get help in finding if needed
- Too much grey to black colours clothes makes selections look less attractive
- Some prices are just too high
- Help and assistance is available if and when needed.
- Best possible location in Turku city center
- Opening hours are good to excellent
- Wants to meet sometimes a friend before, during or after shopping
- Older women enjoy relaxing and eat in the 2nd floor restaurant, young people prefer ground floor
- Don't want to adventure and use time in vain to find suitable products.
- Need to do something to attract younger clientele
- Good and stable owner makes shopping reliable
- Attractiveness is strongly linked to city center attractiveness in general
- Car shopping centers and markets are ok now, but won't last time, people start to come back to center
- Fabric store in the 2nd floor is good and makes a visiting more regular
- Does targeted shopping, does not just go shopping without a purpose
- When questioned about ecology, half think that it's good to have organic separately, half think that here and there together with normal products, so that it's easier and more quick to compare products and prices.
- When questioned about changing photo exhibitions, half think that good idea, half were neutral about it.
- Normal and usual dept store feeling, like the competitor, but 1/4 though that this is better than another, half thought that the level is the same. 1/4 said that fashion and more yuppie stylish people go to another.
- Separate shoe store in ground floor is not attractive, it should be in another floor, separately in corner.
- Pharmacy near cosmetics is good
- Nowadays the sales theme is not very visible and special, it does not increase attractiveness much.
- Bookstore and 3rd floor lifestyle and home area need to be more attractive
- A lot of international brands
- Regular happenings would be welcome, regular special offers and regular happy hours also needed
- Women winter coats and also all underwear should be in ground floor, underwear near cosmetics, winter jackets visible near elevators or entrances, exactly location varies, but ground floor seems best.
- Enough light and good white interiors makes shopping easy, but it's not very fascinating to do shopping
- Selection does not differ much from other shops, but there is a lot of everything available
- Area where to leave men to wait could be an idea. Coffee, some salty things and beer while waiting..
- Half think that market squire underground parking is good to excellent idea, other half were neutral about it. No negative thoughts about it, except wondering how come such an issues take so much time to decide here :)

I wrote bold style those issues that seem to be quite clear and make myself think more and focus on those. What do You think? What kind of results and needs have you found out? What important things is lacking and not seen yet?

I have not spoken with young people yet. Maybe someone could ask and find out more from men under 30's? As shopping habits seem to be quite different between different age groups and attitudes towards internet shopping especially..

Ideas:

What connects dept store core values and their story to that clientele that does not shop yet in the store?

What really is the unknown potential customer group? Is it a tribal, sex, professional or lifestyle group?
Seasonal international travelling shoppers are important, but they are not the one who bring the bread and come regularly, every day. Are the needs of Russian, Chinese and Cruise ship customers enough met? I think that there is still targeting to be done.

What could be a special, any size but not yet a customer group that would bring good turnover with small changes? What group could fit to dept store values and who can bring continuity and long term success to the store?

What are needs of the younger generation men that shop should satisfy? How to make shop sexier?
How the put all visitors to positive, relaxed and/or flow mood? Maybe in all but in different areas and step by step during shopping? I believe that there is a common need in all shopping. That's getting customers out from negligent, boring and non-relaxing mood. Is it just peace? I think not just that as customers need energy also, but positive definetively the target feeling during (and before and after) shopping should be.

Slow shopping suits the older people and retired also, but how to better up efficiency and make shopping easier and more effortless? How to combine coffee culture with sales efficient dept store shopping?

There is already good customer service in clothing dept's, but what would increase attraction and distinct that service even more from the competitors? What gives that extra feeling of caring, effort and bring some luxury to shopping? In some shops there are these Nestresso automatic machines next to cashiers, tactically well located, next to sofas or fitting rooms and people can even some shops make a good and quick, higher quality and lifestyle oriented coffee by themselves, it's price wise easy sales increase. Would it fit to the dept store, to 2nd and 3rd floor?
Saki

Problem list

- Growing internet sales challenge
- buying cosmetics habits are changing
- long slowdown, now 5 years
- shop in shop problem
- losses
- communications and marketing style not attractive
- brand image old and boring
- confusing interior design
- bonus card and loyalty is common
- small average purchase
- non surprising
- not enough easy access / 5 entrances around the groundfloor

Nature and green look inside the shops - scandinavian design idea to upgrade and build image

We thought about ecological and nature friendliness. What modern and future clients expect? Is it option and good idea to build shop interior areas so that wood, our all 4 seasons, scandinavian atmosphere and ECO feeling would increase attractiveness. What colours would suit for men in menswear area: brown, leather, wood. Is scandinavian design customer need? Yes, it brings in safety, security, tranquillily, confortability, at easy feeling and it's non provocative. Change is natural, so changes inside shop regularly would keep customers interested..

Summaries, results and mind clearing thoughts about yesterday in the camp

On Monday afternoon and evening we went already towards the results and solutions, today on Tuesday we returned to the basics, to the customer and to their needs and to the discovery plan phase.
Yesterday was relaxing, team work oriented and peaceful. Good start and happy feelings flourished.
Everybody in our team was in good mood, which is very energising and encouraging in my opinion. We are still all in good, result driven and positive mood, but maybe today more peaceful, tranquille and thinking now our project and customers still hidden and to us unknown things more deeply.

We went in the start maybe too much ahead and did not think the problems and customer needs enough. Excitement, need to achieve something and I ques that also internal pressure to produce usable and practical solutions was strong.

Here some summaries and lists of what we have gathered.

Here thought about adversiting:
- now neutral and non unique, plain and non emotionally very strong
- living in the past and doing things like all others tend to do
- is 3+1 days too plain and plan B type of campaign, it feels basic and not interesting enough
- what to do to raise emotions, impress and seek customer satisfaction..
- now living on tradition and according to the past and old, existing knowledge, but not using all information that is collected from the customers

About Social media:
-instagram during campaigns more often, but usually only weekly, not often enough, 3 times a day: morning, afternoon and evening
- product information with prices and discount shoud be visible
- non emotional and non feeling oriented pictures in facebook
- fashion and cosmetics = esthetics is their theme now
- no opening hours mentioned, should show them! They are long during week and should be shown actively!

Word of mouth
- updated and new mens brands that are now very trendy, this is good, but need visibility
- now modern style kind of clashes with traditional memories that customers have on the store
- mixing feelings about the building and architecture, but it is where and what it is, existing fact hm..
- cut down service level, quality level down image, what is customer satisfaction towards service?

Past experiences:
- now more confusing layout and inside areas
- used to be known for the good service and family and conservative safe place where to buy
- inside a bit difficult to navigate, especially in ground floor

Expectations:
- Get the good old times back
- keep traditional and reliable department store
- young customers expect sexiness, nice feelings, happiness, fashion, trendiness and appreciation
- much more good and positive feelings, emotions and experiences make a succesful dept store!

What to do to promote:
- photo competition
- changing exhibitions (weekly better that monthly to make customers come in more often, regularily)
- weekly pop up stores to use existing space and develop to to new concept, be first one and become a trendsetter and example what customers and others want to follow
- become a brand and talent finder, new products and services
- increase fashion professional image
- manage events and happenings
- champagne sunday was already, good but needs more: icecream saturday, beer friday and such
- singles meeting hours and areas to date and get customers together
- spinning bike idea, where customers can make electronicity to the store and save the world, step by step
- increase ecological ideas
- use farmers to promote their products
- organic touch and attitude
- BIG parade idea, "think like pride parade"
- stylist
- shopping assistant
- valet parking for big spenders it's free, as parking also
- vip shopping days

We though quite a bit about the floors, departments, practicalike, men-women things inside shop, how to attract men to come directly to the menswear dept, without going trough womens or cosmetics areas, how to bring masculinity to attract men to shop. There was, is something to chew and think..

Inno Camp - in action

Hi! We are now in the very beautiful Merimasku near the water and it is really beautiful! We have our task clear now - how to attract more people to a department store in Turku. We began yesterday by getting out some really crazy ideas about solutions, which was the totally wrong way to go around. Today we started out fresh and have now figured out all the different customer personas for the department store, and our next task is to choose how to actually go to action from here to find out the needs of the customers... Quite confusing but we are slowly and steadily moving in the right direction!

//Sarina

A example of the difference between the finnish culture and french culture

  We thought about the question : Do you think if it is possible to let for the mothers theirs children in the park or with a baby-sitting spot during the shopping ?

In our group, the finnish students said that in the minds of finnish peoples, never they didn't trustworthy to let theirs childrens alone or in someone's arms.

Just for this exercice, we can realised the cultural difference between our two countries.

Indeed, In France, the french people, when we have a good feeling with a person or when we are sure that the grocery is safety, the french'womens let theirs childrens

For instance, last year, i was in apprentiship and i asked 3 weeks ago for the women in my company (because the 3 women have all children of less than 3 years old)  if the idea to left the children in the park during the courses likes the same in Ikea or with a baby-sitter, it’s a good idea or no ?

This idea won unanimous support because for all the women it’s too complicate to make the courses with the childrens and they waste a lot of time during the courses.

So, I ask also if in the future, they will want to see this project in the grocery shops likes “Carrefour” or “Auchan”, and all the women answer me that they are agree with this because it’s more easy and less complicate.

As one of the woman involved noted : "If i think that there are no problem  to let my children and if i can make the courses quit, it's just a benefit for  me.When i make the course with my children, it's so dificult and i'm losing a lot of time."

Nevertheless, there are just a negative point : They don’ trust perhaps the baby sitter or they do not want to leave them alone.

In my opinion, found more positif point than negative point, so we can conclude that it’s a good idea to install in the grocery a play area.

Aymeric

Events, grocery stores and our space?

Regarding the store departments I think that there is not necessary to have a specific area where we must locate our areas of childcare, but we can put them primarily in major shopping centers (for example in France Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, polygons or Antigones) and supermarkets (for example in France: Carrefour, Auchan ... in the major cities). In fact it would be especially in places with large crowds like the Christmas markets in Strasbourg or Paris with specific exhibitions.

For events in the city center should be that we can assemble and disassemble our center and then have a building to accommodate children but I think the most convenient and removable to have our space like that we can come and go without pay taxes like a building. For this, we would need a logo and color code very special for people to recognize us with a wink and always of course be well positioned near to the events.

Initially, there should be a removable concept and do not settle in one place, the time to become known and then only if we see that the concept like then we can establish ourselves in strategic locations seen previously (with heavy traffic). But I think we should still keep a collapsible concept for ephemeral events. Thereafter we can develop an agency home child care but it's just an idea.

Relating to consumer behavior, this can only be good for shopping or errands without the kids because it takes time and it is the time spent at home. Thus, the person is not constantly disturbed by children and can buy more (without distraction and increase the average basket).

Emeline